The present invention relates to the field of dressings that are applied to the human skin, and more particularly, to the field of dressings that function as protective and preventative barriers on the user""s skin that may be used while the user is engaged in physical activity. Dressings are commonly used as protective barriers to protect a wound from infection and trauma. Dressings may also be used as preventative barriers that inhibit the formation of blisters, corns, calluses and other skin conditions.
The human skin may be subject to certain types of injuries or conditions that may not limit the user""s mobility. A sports enthusiast that enjoys sports such as basketball or tennis may be able to play with a blister or a corn. In addition, minor surgical incisions, or minor cuts may not be sufficient to limit normal physical activity. Presently, the methods that exist for treating blisters, corns or small cuts includes the use of a traditional band-aid or regular gauze secured with a tape. Such dressings may be bulky and result in limiting the mobility of the user or preventing the user to carry on a physical activity. The wear-time may also be rather short as the dressing may tend to peel off the skin as the wearer moves and the dressing rubs against the wearer""s clothing.
Such traditional methods also suffer from the inability to conform to the shape or contour of the various areas of the human body on which they may be used. The lack of conformability may lead to either lift-off of the dressing from the skin or from detachment at the adhesive. The traditional bandage, for example, lacks the conformability to properly adhere to a small cut on the palm of the hand without lift-off when the user cups the hand.
A further drawback of the use of traditional bandages is the use of pressure sensitive adhesives to attach the bandages to the skin. Such adhesives may irritate the skin causing pain and discomfort. The pain and discomfort may be further aggravated by the removal of hair trapped between the skin and the bandage when the bandage is removed.
Dressings having hydrocolloid adhesives and other moisture-absorbing materials may be used advantageously to treat blisters, corns, calluses, cuts, warts and other such wounds. Jensen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,447 (issued Jan. 7, 1997) describes a dressing having an adhesive layer containing one or more hydrocolloids formed with a stair-like contour merging with a peripheral flange of reduced thickness. The peripheral flange and stair-like contour prevents fluid channeling and leakage in the presence of exudate or other moisture that may form at a wound-site. Similar advantages are discussed in Samuelsen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,867,748 (issued Sep. 19, 1989), which describes a dressing containing hydrocolloid-based adhesives and having a bevelled edge.
The dressings in Jensen and in Samuelsen may provide adequate containment of fluid and may extend wear-time in applications involving wounds having heavy exudate, or in situations in which the patient is bed-ridden, or is otherwise limited in mobility. Other types of wound dressings using a similar configuration but different materials such as non-woven, silicone, acrylic, rubber or resin, offer similar advantages.
It has been found however, that when such dressings are used to treat or prevent blisters, corns, calluses, warts and small cuts, wear time, convenience and mobility to the user may be limited. The dressings in Jensen and Samuelsen are subject to wrinkling at the edges that eventually result in roll-up of the dressing. The wrinkling reduces wear time and may annoy users, particularly when the wrinkling at the edges is aggravated by contact with clothing. In addition, the dressings in Jensen and Samuelsen may not conform to the wound-site sufficiently to prevent lift-off.
The dressings in Jensen and Samuelsen also provide no relief to the user during removal. The adhesives used must be strong enough to avoid detachment, and consequently cause pain and remove hair during the removal of the dressing.
It would be desirable to have a dressing that may be used on the human skin for treating or preventing the formation of blisters, corns, warts, calluses, small cuts, etc. without wrinkling at the edges to maximize wear time and comfort.
The affects of wrinkling and pain during detachment are magnified in dressings used for ostomy purposes. Patients that must wear ostomy devices and the dressings used with such devices must do so for extended periods of time. Such ostomy devices and dressings must also be worn as the patient conducts his or her daily affairs. The dressings are thus subject to stresses that may lead to lift off and wrinkling at the edges that would result in discomfort to the patient and detachment of the dressing.
It would be further desirable to have an ostomy dressing that is sufficiently conformable to the contour of the skin site on which it is worn such that the possibility of detachment is minimized.
It would be further desirable to have an ostomy dressing that adheres to the skin without causing pain and removal of hair during removal of the dressing.